Trap-door for railway-cars and similar structures.



R. T. AXE.

TRAP DOORFOR RAILWAY CARS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6. I910. RENEWED SEPT. 20. I912.

l,188,070 Patented May 4, 1915.

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R. T. AXE.

TRAP DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS AND SIMlLAR STRUCTURES. APPLICATION FILED ocr. 6. 1910. RENEWED SEPT-20, 1912.

1,1 38,070. Patented May 4, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

' THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTD LITHON WASHINGTON. D. C.

'nniTnn STATES! PATENT orricn.

ROY i. AXE, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 OLIVER 1V1. EnwARiJs, or

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

TRAP-DOOR FOR RAILVfAY-CABS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May a, 1915.

Application filed. October 6, 1910, Serial No. 585,640. Renewed September 20, 1912. Serial No. 721,519.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROY T. AXE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, county of Onondaga, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trap-Doors for Railway- Cars and Similar Structures, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the drawings accompanying the same.

This invention relates generally to trap doors for railway cars and similar structures, as for instance, such as are used to cover and uncover the steps leading to and from passenger cars, but more particularly to trap doors, where there is a space between the platforms of the cars and the station platform, which it is desirable to cover or bridge over to prevent passengers and others from stepping into such space and being injured thereby.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a trap door having a movement lengthwise of its axial line of hinging or sidewise of the car in which it is used and is movable in such lengthwise direction at will by the operator or other person who opens or closes such door.

Another object is to provide simple and easily operable means for projecting or retracting the door lengthwise of its axial line of hinging at will by the person in charge of such door.

Other objects will appear from the descriptions hereinafter given.

With these objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims hereunto annexed and forming a part of this specification.

Figure 1 shows in plan view a trap door and a portion of a car platform illustrating generally the door in position for use to ridge over a given space between a car and station platform, with the means by which the door is projected at will sidewise or lengthwise of its axial line of hinging. Fig. 2 shows in edge view the trap door seen in Fig. 1 when such door is in the retracted position and the means by which the door is projected or retracted at will lengthwise of its axial line ofhinging. The means here shown consist principally of a lever and such lever is seen in the two positions it occupies, one

of which, the retracted position, is seenv in full lines and the other, when the door is projected, is seen in dotted lines. Fig. 8 shows a detail of the hinging means, on an enlarged scale, by which the door is permitted to have a sliding movement lengthwise of the axial line of such hinging means and also the lower portion of the lever for moving the door sidewise. Fig. 4 shows a portion of the door and the means by which it is projected or retracted lengthwise of its axial line of hinging and where such means connect or engage with the door to project or retract it, where such means are used on vestibuled platforms.

Like letters of reference, wherever they occur, indicate corresponding parts of the several figures of the drawings.

One embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the drawings, it being for simplicity and cheapness of construction the best form known to me at the present time, and as there seen the trap door 13 is hung in the platform A by a form or hinging means, as C, wherein torsional springs 0 well known in the art are used to assist in opening the door, there being a sliding movement on its hinging means given to the door in addition to the turning movement heretofore common. As here shown the invention is applied to an ordinary open platform'of a passenger car provided with the usual steps for use with a low station platform thereby adapting the car for use with high platforms or platforms of substantially the same height'or level as the car platform where it is desired to bridge over more or less of a given space between the car and station platforms. This well known form of hinging spring is shown and described in Patent 781,045 dated Feb. 7, 1905 and as there shown the torsional springs are connected to the door at one end and to the platform at the other and are arranged on the axial line of the hinge pintle or pivots. Any

form of hinging spring may be employed as sidewise of the car and yet maintain operaor springs and the door.

two parts, as c and 0, which parts are constructed so that one may be received'bythe other and have anendwise movement of one part relatively to the other, but the two parts turn as a single part would turn in moving the door from the open to the closed position or vice versa. As thus shown the part 0 is fixedly secured to the main portion of the door and is shorter in length than is the part:

0 to which the torsional spring or springs are attached. This part c is connected to the main portion of thedoor by being received in recesses ,or grooves formed within the opposite side edges of the part c, and the two parts are so shaped that the outermost edges of part c are slidable in the grooves or recesses formed in the part c and consequently one necessarily turns with the other as the main portion ofthedoor turns, but the part 0 can readily move endwise on the part c. This manner of connecting the twoparts of the hinging means together provides a simple construction and one in which there is but little frictional contact between such oarts. The points of engagement of one are somewhat widely separated. The

means, as D, by which anendwise movement is given to the part 0 and, consequently .to the door B to which such part ofthe hinging means is secured relatively to the part 0, consist, as thus shown, ofa simple bentvlever pivotally connected to the car or platform at the point at and means by which such lever engages with the door and its movement is controlled. One end of this lever, as cZ,-is constructed to receive the hand of the operator and the other end, as d", is adapted to engage or connect with a rear portion of the door, as B, and this'portion is-bent or curved, as more particularly seen in Figs. 3 and 4 so that the doorin opening and closing remains in connection or engagement with such lever, it being understood that the door at the rear may extend somewhat beyond the hinging means, as shown,-

and make substantially a quarter turn in opening and closing, the door opening toward the end of the car and in front of the lever D: i This form of operating means, as D, provides a very simple and cheaply constructed means for movingthe door lengthwise of its axialline of hingingto the platform, but other forms of operating means may be used in place of this lever form, ac-

cordingly as the constructor desires to have the door'move along its axial line of hinging,fb'ut whatever form of operating means is provided there'must be a portion adapted to be taken hold] of or engaged with to operatesuch means and there must be another part adapted by its-construction to engage or connect with the door during the time I the door is to be moved lengthwise of its axial line at the will of the operator.

The operating means here shown is adapted for use with trap doors such as are ordinarlly used 1n open or vestibuled platform cars, that 1s, cars without vestibules for closforms where the vestibule door usually is opened before the trap door, and a certain space is provided between the axial line of hinging. of the door and the end of the car against-which the vestibule door opens. It is to be observed that when the present invention is applied to trap doors such as are usually found in open platform cars that the space between the axial line of hinging of the door and the end of the car is much ing' in the platforms or with vestibuled platless than is the case with trap doors now provide for the space to be occupied by the vestibule door when the trap door is open for use. This space occupied by the vestibule door when in the'open position has to be bridged over or covered by the trap door when it is closed for use in wide vestibules. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the curvature of the portion cl of the lever of the operating means, as D, differs, as seen, accordingly as the rear portion of the door differs in extending beyond the axial line of its hinging to the platform. In each case the operating means is adapted to engage with the trap door and maintain its engagement or connection therewithat all times and at all points of the turning movement of the door, but as shown such operating lever is operable at will independently of the position the trap door occupies whether it be the open, closed or partly open position so long as such door can be projected lengthwise of such axial line.

If desired, the trap door B may be provided with a partto beknown as a threshold, which portion of the door may'bridge over or cover the space between the car and station platform, or if desired it maybe made to cover only a portion of such space, accordingly as the constructor sees fit to make such part and door. Also if desired, Y

to conduct the water and other matter which may temporarily be placed thereon outwardly and away from the interior of the car and it is also preferably made of a separate piece of material but may be made otherwise if desired. These two features are no necessary part of the present invention, because the operation of the door sidewise is the same whether such features be present or not.

What is herein shown and described will naturally suggest to those skilled in the art other specific forms of means for moving trap doors sidewise or lengthwise of the axial line of their hinging means and modifications in that which is herein shown and described which, while varying in form or details of construction or arrangement will have substantially the same method or mode of operation in accomplishing essentially the same work as is the case with that which is herein set forth, hence, I do not desire to limit my invention to the specific forms, constructions or arrangements of parts or devices herein shown and described, but desire to include all forms, constructions or arrangements that are within the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new is 1. A trap door of the character described provided with means for hinging it in place to close an opening, which means is adapted to permit the door to turn thereon and move lengthwise of the axial line of such means, and means a portion of which is engageable with the door to move it lengthwise of its axial line of hinging independently of the turning of the door on its hinging means, substantially as set forth.

2. A trap door of the character described provided with means for hinging it in place to close an opening which means is adapted to permit the door to turn thereon and move lengthwise of the axial line of such means, and means a portion of which is in the form of a lever and is adapted to control the movement of the door lengthwise of the axial line of hinging independently of the turning of the door on its hinging means, substantially as set forth.

3. A trap door of the character described provided with means for hinging it in place to close an opening, which means is adapted to permit the door to turn thereon and move lengthwise of its axial line of hinging, and means a portion of which is engageable with the door and another portion is adapted to be movably mounted in place to move the door lengthwise of its hinging independently of the turning of such door on its hinging means, substantially as set forth.

4. A trap door of the character described provided with means for hinging it in place to close an opening, which means is con structed in two parts one of which is secured to the main portion of the door and is prov1ded with receiving and holding means on opposite portions thereof and the other of which is received by and is slidable within 7 the part secured to the door lengthwiseof the axial line of such hinging means, substantially as set forth.

5. A trap door of the character described provided with means for hinging it in place to close an opening, which means is constructed in two parts, one of which is secured to the main portion of the door and the other is secured in place to coact with the part secured to the door, which parts are so shaped that one part is received, held and guided in an endwise direction by suitable means formed on opposite portions of both parts with a small portion only of one part in frictional contact with the other part, substantially as set forth.

6. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of an opening therein, a door to close such opening, hinging means for hanging the door in the platform with a turning and sliding movement, and means operable independently of the turning of the door for projecting it lengthwise of the axial line of the hinging means.

7. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of an opening therein, a door adapted to close such opening, hinging means for hanging the door in the platform with a turning and sliding movement, and means consisting essentially of a lever a portion of which is engageable with the door for moving the same sidewise and other portions, one of which is adapted to be movably mounted on the car and another is adapted to receive the hand of the operator to move the door sidewise independently of the turning of the door on the hinging means.

8. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of an opening therein, a door to close such opening, hinging means adapted to hang the door in the platform with a turning and sliding movement, and means connected with the platform and door operable at will for moving the door lengthwise of the axial line of its hinging means.

9. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of an opening therein, a door adapted to close such opening, hinging means adapted to hang the door in the platform with a movement lengthwise of the axial line of such means, and means operable at will independently of the turningof the door on its hinging means for moving it lengthwise of the axial line of its hinging means.

10. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of an opening therein, a door adapted to close such opening hinging means adapted to hang the door in the platform with a movement lengthwise another portion is engageable with the door to move it lengthwise of the axial line of the hinging means independently of the turning of the door on such hinging means.

11. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of an opening therein, a door adapted to close such opening, hinging means adapted to hang the" door in the platform with I a movement lengthwise of the axial line of such means, and operating means arranged adjacent to the door, a portion of which is adapted to be grasped by the operator in charge of the door, another portion movably connected with the platform and another portion con 'nected with the door, for moving the door sidewise independently of the turning movement of the door upon its hinging means.

12. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of anopening therein, a door for closing such openin hinging means adapted tohang the door in the platform constructed in two parts, one

of which is provided with receiving and holding means at points somewhat separated from one another and the other is provided with means adapted to be received by the V first mentioned part held and guided thereby in an endwise direction and engage therewith only at substantially such separated points; 7 p

13. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of an opening therein, a door for closing such opening, hinging means" adapted to hang the door in the platform constructed in two parts one engageable with the other at pointsopposite one another, one part being 'adaptedto receive and hold the other partwith only a small proportion of the surfacesof one part in engagement with the surfaces of the other part and one part slidable lengthwise of the other. 7 I V '14. In a car platform the combination, substantially as set forth, of an opening therein, a door for closing such opening, hinging means adapted to hang the door in the platform, constructed in two parts one of which is U shape in cross section and is provided with laterally extending flanges adapted to engage with recesses. formed in the other and one of such parts is slidable relatively to the other in an endwise direction. 7

15. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein and a trap door associated with the opening, of hinging means for the door comprising apart movable about its axis and non-movable in the direction of its axis, and a second part slidable relatively to the first in a' lengthwise direction, and a connection between the sec- 0nd part and the door.

16. The combinatlon with a car platform tion'being spaced'from the inner side edge of the door.

17. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein and a trap door associated therewith, of hinging means for the door comprising a part movable about its axis, and non-movable in the direction of its axis, a spring associated with said part tending to hold the same in a predetermined position, a second part slidable relatively to the first in a lengthwise direction, and a connection between the second part and the door.

18. The combination with a car platform having anopening therein and a trap door associated therewith, of hinging means for the door comprising a part movable about its axis, a spring located within, and extending lengthwise of, said part and tending to hold the same in a predeterinined'position, a second part slidable on the first, and a v connection between the second part and the under face of the door.

- 19- The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, and a door associated therewithhaving a pivotal and sliding movement, of hinging means for the door comprising a part mounted on the car platform and having a turning movement, and a second part interposed'between the door and the firstnamed part and having a turning movement with the first-named part, and an additional movement independent of the first-named part during the sliding movement of the door.

20. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, a trap door. of greater length than said opening and of substantially the width thereof, and a sliding pivotal connection between said door and the platform, said connection including a part mounted in said opening, and a part connected to the under face of the door, and slidably engaging the firstnamed part.

21 The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, and a trap door of greater length than said opening and of substantially the same width thereof, of a sliding pivotal connection between the door and platform comprising a part journaled in said opening, and a part rigidly connected to the door, and slidably connected to the first-named part. p

22; The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, and a trap door of greater length than said opening and of substantially the Width thereof, of a sliding pivotal connection between the door and platform comprising a part mounted in said opening and spaced at distance from the wall of the same at the inner end of the platform, and a part connected to the under face of the door and movably connected to the firstnamed part.

23. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, and a trap door of greater length than said opening and of substantially the width thereof, of a sliding pivotal connection between the door and platform comprising a part mounted in said opening and spaced a distance from the wall of the same at the inner end of the platform, and a part connected to the under face of the door and movably connected to the firstnamed part, and means for sliding the door comprising a lever engaging therewith between the inner side edge thereof and the said sliding pivotal connection.

24. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, and a trap door associated with the opening, of a sliding pivotal connection between the under face of the door and the platform, said connection being spaced a distance inwardly from the inner side edge of the door, and a lever pivotally supported on the end of the car and provided with a part engaging a marginal portion of the door between said pivotal connection and the adjacent edge of the door.

25. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, and a trap door associated with the opening, of a sliding pivotal connection between the under face of the door and the platform, said connection being spaced a distance inwardly from the inner side edge of the door, and a lever pivotally supported on the end of the car and provided with a part engaging a margin-a1 portion of the door between said pivotal connection and the adjacent edge of the door, said part of the lever extending below the horizontal position of the door and maintaining its engagement therewith in the various positions assumed thereby in its pivotal movements.

26. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, a trap door associated with said opening, and a sliding pivotal connection between the platform andfji the door, of means for sliding the door having a part engaging with the latter and movable therewith in the sliding movement thereof, said door moving relatively to said part in its pivotal movement.

27. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, a door associated with the opening, and a sliding pivotal connection between the door and the platform, of an angle lever mounted on the end of the car and having a hand engaging part and a second part slidably connected to the door, said second part having an engaging surface extending in a direction substantially concentric with the axis on which the door turns.

28. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, a trap door associated with the opening, and a sliding pivotal connection between the trap door and the platform, said connection being spaced inwardly from the inner side edge of the trap door, of an angle lever pivotally mounted on the end of the car above the trap door and provided with a depending arm having a sliding connection with the marginal portion of the door between the aforesaid pivota'l connection and the adjacent side edge of the door.

29. The combination with a car platform having an opening therein, and a trap door associated therewith, of a connection interposed between the under face of the door and the platform, and spaced inwardly from the inner side edge of the door for mounting the door in the platform, so that it can be swung to occupy a vertical position for exposing the opening in the platform, or into a horizontal position for closing such opening, and can be slid in a direction lengthwise of the axis on which it turns, of means for sliding the door including a lever having a hand engaging part substantially in the plane of one edge of the door, and a door engaging part having a sliding connection with the door remote from said edge, the last-named part being adapted to maintain its connection with the door in the various positions assumed thereby in the pivotal movement of the same.

OLIVER M. EDWARDS, NELLIE I. GIIFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

